Philippine baseball seeks Fil-Am talents in US tryout

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine baseball national team program got a huge boost on Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time) after tryouts were held in California.

With the goal of recruiting new talent, the Philippine Amateur Baseball Association worked with Los Angeles-based firm Fil-Am Nation Select to organize the tryouts to scout the latest Filipino-American talents in the US.

Some 40 baseball players attended the tryout in LA Valley College with a mix of high school, college and pro baseball players.

Present were multiple members of the World Baseball Classic Team Philippines coaching staff, including manager Bill Picketts.

Fil-Am Nation Select founder Cris Gopez opened up about working with Picketts and PABA in organizing the event.

"I'm ecstatic to work closely with PABA and Coach Bill Picketts and even Chase D'Arnaud to bring back Philippine baseball to the highest level," he said.

"I believe we have a lot of players that can play, and yesterday was evidence that we have some great athletes, strong, smart, and built to play the game," he added.

D'Arnaud is a retired Fil-Am Major League Baseball player and the brother of World Series winner Travis D'Arnaud of the Atlanta Braves.

Baseball is the latest sport that Fil-Am Nation Select is looking to aid with recruitment as the Gilas women's team has already benefitted a bunch with Gopez' efforts.

Also in the mix for Fil-Am Nation Select in the future is talent recruitment for the Philippine ice hockey and women's volleyball teams.